Late Night: Welcome Back to the 1990s | Firedoglake

Late Night: Welcome Back to the 1990s | Firedoglake: "Meanwhile, President Obama may think he’s already learned the hard way how thoroughly committed the right wing is to preventing him from achieving even an ounce of his much-desired bipartisan cooperation.� But as is usually the case for slow learners, the lessons are just beginning."

Blue Dogs still howling

Inside The Bruising Democratic Leadership Fight: Pelosi Moves To Box Out Hoyer | TPMDC: "Don't get me wrong, she'll go down as a great Speaker in some respects (no one could have pulled health care back to life the way she did), but she overreached in many ways. She made many vulnerable members walk the plank on votes she knew would never become law (cap and trade). She also forced them to vote on liberal versions of major legislation with the reasoning that it would 'give us an upper hand in conference', knowing we would give away the farm in the end anyway. As a result vulnerable members made tough votes that ended up costing them their careers."

Tea Party not grass roots?

Balloon Juice � Blog Archive � Quick On The Uptake: "It’s almost as if the tea party isn’t really a libertarian minded grass roots uprising calling for more personal freedom, fiscal conservatism, and limited government, but actually might just be a slick re-branding of the lunatic wing of the GOP by wealthy billionaire businessmen to be used to propel the GOP back into power."

Krugman on Pelosi

Thoughts On Pelosi - NYTimes.com:

First, Pelosi has by all accounts been an extremely effective leader. She made health care happen, when it was taken for lost; she has shown an amazing ability to herd cats, and from what I hear her caucus appreciates her talents. If the economic policies fell short, if the White House did a terrible job of messaging, well, that’s not her fault.

On David Brooks

David Brooks illustrates how clueless Easterners can be without local knowledge about My Midwest: "So just to sum up how far a columnist can get without local knowledge, Mr. Brooks has produced some interesting facts that were not facts about a Midwest that was not the Midwest."

Balloon Juice Comment du Jour

Balloon Juice � Blog Archive � Petey Greene Open Thread: "Just thought of something. I’m seeing the amount of trips the Obamas have taken popping up amid the discussions of how much they cost. I don’t think the righties are considering that Bush didn’t make a lot of foreign visits because nobody really wanted him to come."

Bacon Soda - Yes Really

Bacon Soda Holiday Pack:

Everything is better with bacon, right?!?!

Introducing the one time only Jones Bacon Soda. We teamed up with the creative group at Bacon Salt, for this holiday treat you don't want to miss.

Each case includes:

2 Bottles of Jones Bacon Soda

1 Tube of Bacon Lip Balm

1 Package of Bacon Popcorn

1 Package of Bacon Gravy Mix

Best Disclaimer in a while

ONE AND ONE MAKES TEN - Reverb for Skype 5: "Again, none of this code is actually mine. I provide this package in hope that it will allow more users to stick to the Beta and provide useful feedback to Skype’s developers. Don’t set your mighty lawyers after me. You know I can’t run as fast as they can."

Recipe - Confetti Meatloaf

Meatloaf: Confetti Meatloaf Recipe - Ground Beef Recipes

 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
 1/2 (13.5 ounce) can spinach, squeezed dry and chopped
 2 carrots, grated
 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
 1 egg, beaten
 1/2 cup vegetable or tomato juice
 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs or crushed crackers 
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
 black pepper, to taste

Sauce:
1/4 cup vegetable or tomato juice
1/4 cup ketchup

And to actually make it ... wander over to the originating site for directions.

On Gumbo

On Gumbo: Kirk Spencer � What's 4 Dinner Solutions

Finally, a clue. Gumbo is a thick stew that uses a dark roux as the critical spice. Everything else is an option. Venison/beef/mutton/seafood? Turnips? Kale? No problem, really. Make a dark roux, add some chunks and liquid, add more chunks of what you like, spice to taste, thicken it with okra and/or file, enjoy (usually over rice). Really and truly, there is no true gumbo.

5:30 and craving some gumbo already.

Recipe - Sticky Chicken And Lemon Couscous

Sticky Chicken And Lemon Couscous - rllmukforum.com

Hello all, and welcome to the show. Today we'll be cooking some lovely Sticky Chicken - guaranteed to please - with Lemon Couscous. Mmmmm. Tasty nice! Hope you enjoy it...

FOR THE STICKY CHICKEN: 

Chicken, chopped up into big-toe sized pieces. Normally 150-200g per person. 

Lemon Juice 

Sweet Chilli Sauce 

Worcester Sauce 

Soy Sauce 

FOR THE COUSCOUS: 

Dried Couscous - about 100g per person 

Lemon Zest (from your lemon you juiced above!) 

A red pepper, chopped into small pieces 

A chilli pepper - deseeded 

A few Spring Onions, chopped 

Olive Oil 

Lemon Juice (again, sorry) 

1/2 pint hot water 

Random herbage - I'd suggest basil and coriander, but hey, go nuts 

Salt & Pepper

For the instructions you have to go to the originating site. Looks very tasty

Bank on Bank action!

BofA Sets Up Huge Battle, Stares Down Pimco and NYFed on Mortgage Repurchases | FDL News Desk:

"Bank of America has rejected a request to buy back $47 billion dollars in soured mortgage loans originated by Countrywide, who they bought in 2008. This will likely trigger legal action by the consortium of investors who called for the repurchases, including institutional giants Pimco and BlackRock, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. BofA, in a letter, denied that the loans were made or handled improperly.

Yeah, ok, so it isn't all that sexy. It should be interesting though.

Youtube - Sarah Palin's new clip

I watch these things so you don't have to ... but I make you watch the worst ones.

you are welcome

Jobs Don't Matter, Profits do

The U.S. Chamber of Outsourcing | Economy In Crisis

Just last month, the Chamber lobbied vigorously to defeat the Creating American Jobs and End Offshoring Act, which would have given companies a two-year payroll tax holiday, reducing the amount of Social Security taxes they would have to pay, for new employees who replace workers doing similar jobs overseas. The bill would have also ended tax provisions that encourage the outsourcing of jobs. 

'Replacing a job that is based in another country with a domestic job does not stimulate economic growth or enhance the competitiveness of American worldwide companies,' Chamber executive vice president Bruce Josten claimed in a letter to senators.

Zandar Makes a funny

Zandar Versus The Stupid: Another Stimulus/Response Exercise

So when Republicans say they are listening to the 'will of the American people' they're going to help pass a major new jobs creation bill, right?

On Taking "Your" Country Back

Tim Wise via Balloon Juice

I know, you think you’ve taken “your country back” with this election — and of course you have always thought it was yours for the taking, cuz that’s what we white folks are bred to believe, that it’s ours, and how dare anyone else say otherwise — but you are wrong. 

 You have won a small battle in a larger war the meaning of which you do not remotely understand. 

 ‘Cuz there is nothing even slightly original about you. 

There have always been those who wanted to take the country back. 

There were those who, in past years, wanted to take the country back to a time of enslavement and indentured servitude.

 But they lost. 

 There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when children could be made to work in mines and factories, when workers had no legal rights to speak of, when the skies in every major city were heavy with industrial soot that would gather on sidewalks and windowsills like volcanic ash. 

 But they lost. 

 There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when women could not vote, or attend any but a few colleges, or get loans in their own names, or start their own businesses. 

 But they lost. 

 There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when blacks “had no rights that the white man was bound to respect,” – this being the official opinion of the Supreme Court before those awful days of judicial activism, now decried by the likes of you – and when people of color could legally be kept from voting solely because of race, or holding certain jobs, or living in certain neighborhoods, or run out of other towns altogether when the sun would go down, or be strung up from trees. 

 But they lost. 

 And you will lose.

I am, by any reasonable measure, an upper middle class, middle aged white male and all I can say to this is "Amen". oh, by the way, Tim Wise is not an angry black man. He is indeed angry (or was when he wrote that piece) but he is as pasty white as my Canadian butt.

Rachel Maddow on Olbermann's Suspension

The Maddow Blog - On cable news and cable not-news: "I understand the rule. I understand what it means to break it. I believe everyone should face the same treatment under that rule. I also personally believe that the point has been made and we should have Keith back hosting Countdown.

Here's the larger point, though, that's going mysteriously missing from the right-wing cackling and old media cluck-cluck-clucking: I know everyone likes to say, 'Oh, cable news, it's all the same. Fox and MSNBC -- mirror images of each other. But if you look at the long history of Fox hosts not just giving money to candidates, but actively endorsing campaigns and raising millions of dollars for politicians and political parties -- whether it's Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck or Mike Huckabee -- and you'll see that we can lay that old false equivalency to rest forever. There are multiple people being paid by Fox News to essentially run for office as Republican candidates. If you count not just their hosts but their contributors, you're looking at a significant portion of the entire Republican lineup of potential contenders for 2012."

Banks as Bad Neighbors

Tax the Deadbeats, Tax the Banksters | Emptywheel: "The narrative the banksters and their enablers have used to fight a foreclosure moratorium focuses on property values. If we put off foreclosures, they argue, it’ll have detrimental effects on the local community, not least by (continuing to) drive down local property values.

Now, the entire premise ignores the fact that the banksters have been sitting on a bunch of shadow inventory for years; the banks have been in no rush to foreclose on these properties and write down the losses, and Treasury has been happy to string out foreclosures to avoid a hit on the housing market.

But there’s another problem with that narrative.

If property values are falling because the properties are falling into disrepair, that’s partly the fault of the banks.

If property values are going down because no one is mowing lawns and preventing squatters, then that’s partly because banks are deadbeat neighbors who are not paying for the upkeep on the houses they own."

This is just completely fucked up

I Heart Chaos — And so this is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a reality show combining brides and extreme plastic surgery: "The network is set to announce “Bridalplasty,” where brides-to-be compete in wedding-themed challenges to win extensive surgical procedures. �

Each week, a group of women competes head-to-head in such challenges as writing wedding vows and planning honeymoons. The winner receives the chance to choose a plastic surgery procedure from her “wish list.” She’s given the procedure immediately, and results are shown at the start of the following week’s episode. One by one, the women are voted out by their competitors and, according to the show’s description, “possibly walking away with nothing and losing [their] chance to be the perfect bride.”"

Fucking Take the Paper - Meow

Chuck Hughes' Poutine Recipe

Chuck's Awesome Poutine Recipe : Chuck Hughes : Recipes : Cooking Channel

I adore Poutine.

Playing Chicken with the world

Will the GOP Set Off Economic Apocalypse? - Beltway Beast - The Daily Beast: "The battle presents a tricky situation for Republicans because, one way or another, that debt ceiling must be increased—a failure to do so would lead the U.S. to default on their debts and plunge the world into financial chaos—but GOP leaders are boxed in politically: Tea Party expectations are sky high on this issue and Republicans voted unanimously in the House against the last debt hike. It's going to be a bitter pill to swallow when they inevitably have to reverse themselves, and John Boehner is already preparing them for it, assuring Diane Sawyer this week that the U.S. will be 'ready to meet our obligations.'"

Youtube - Everything I Own - David Gates

TWIB

No, I am not black. I do like intelligent people though. Elon James White is one such persjavascript:void(0)on

The Phone Book is here

By the Book - Reason Magazine: "Phone books eroded these barriers. They were the first step in our long journey toward the pandemic self-surveillance of Facebook. “Hey strangers!” anyone who appeared in their pages ordained. “Here’s how to reach me whenever you feel like it, even though I have no idea who you are.”"

Go Hawks

5 and 0 to start the season

Youtube Clip - Popcorn

Fly little kernel fly

What Digby Says

Hullabaloo

Pelosi staying as minority leader is terrific of course, for many reasons. But the symbolic 'fuck you' to the wingnut creeps of both parties who ran against her and her long-haired, world series winning, San Francisco liberal ways is awesome

Book Suggestion

via Digby

Howard Kurtz takes over 1000 words to say nothing

James Carville, Joe Trippi and Other Democratic Strategists On Reviving the Party - The Daily Beast

Pink and Stupidity

Stupid

I think parents need to beat the crap outta their kids… I think the whole spanking thing and how it’s gotten all PC (politically correct) is for the birds. My dad put me through a wall; it’s the only reason I’m still alive. I deserved it. I would have kicked me out when I was eight… I was not comfortable with authority or rules. I was bad

Stupider

And she let us understand that being beaten was the only way for her to be a good girl. Well, she’s not! So maybe he should beat her a little bit more.

"Dexter" Star feeling well

Michael C Hall Healthy Following Cancer Treatment!: "Michael C Hall is happy to be alive. The actor was seen out, looking healthier following the cancer treatment he underwent."

Olbermann Suspended

Keith Olbermann Suspended Indefinitely From MSNBC Over Donations

In the main, though, I’m flummoxed that anyone was supposed to think Olbermann was some kind of neutral journalist.

I am going to shock some people by saying that I agree that he should be suspended. NBC has a clearly stated policy on this and Keith broke it willfully. It might be a stupid policy but nonetheless...

Daily Kos: Third Way tells Democrats to stop being Democrats

Daily Kos: Third Way tells Democrats to stop being Democrats

Given that Wall Street dominates Third Way board of directors, these are the last people that Democrats should be listening to. Like the Blue Dogs, those who lost big this election, or who helped push the policies that led to these defeats, are the last ones who should be flapping their yaps.

Since the first time I heard of Third Way I have been stumped as to why they would think they would have a prayer of influencing the Democratic Party. I finally figured out that it is mostly because they think that the GOP is going to plunge off a cliff to the right and if they align themselves with that upcoming trainwreck there will be no one to keep the world safe for Wall Street

TV Watching Habits of the stupid

CBC News - Nova Scotia - N.S. man guilty of hate crime in cross-burning: Racial/Gender prejudice and hatred is a funny thing, in that, it is more tolerated if the recepient is white, or german, or male. At least that seems the case in North America. I hear 'whitey', 'honky', all the time on tv, and not as much as a 'tsk, tsk'. God forbid a white person says anything of a similar fashion.

Not sure what tv shows this commenter watches but they must be far more interesting than what I see when i turn on mine.

Yglesias on China and Russia

Yglesias � The Not-So-Great Game:

I would say that one of the major lessons of the past fifty years has to be that it’s extremely difficult to coercively dominate foreign populations who have nationalist objections to your rule. It’s not impossible, but it’s damn hard and the government of China would need to be pretty crazy to want to try to govern Kazakhstan. Crazy things do happen—look at Iraq—so I don’t think it’s totally safe to assume that the Chinese won’t ever do anything crazy. But part of the craziness of any course of action along these lines is that Russia would have any number of low-cost ways to make things difficult for China by sending supplies and weapons across the very long and hard to police Kazakh-Russian border.

Let's hope China has no leaders as crazy as ours were post 9/11

Zandar on PUMAs

Zandar Versus The Stupid: Nancy Boy Feminists:

I've said for a while that the PUMA faction of the Dems were always worse than the Firebaggers, because while the latter at least are intellectually consistent and want to see the Dems win and put forth progressive legislation, the former most certainly does not.

Baby Jesus Weeps

'Real World: Boston' alum elected to Congress - Entertainment - Access Hollywood - TODAYshow.com

This is the true story ... of a former MTV “Real World” participant who is now a member of the U.S. Congress.
Former “The Real World: Boston” cast member Sean Duffy won a House seat on Tuesday in his home state of Wisconsin, according to The Wausau Daily Herald.

And he apparently likes axes.

Tony Blankley should stop smoking opium

The Public Is Watching - Rasmussen Reports™

It would not surprise me at all to see in 2012 Sarah Palin leading a tea party campaign, Michael Bloomberg lead a middle-way third party, Feingold lead a progressive fourth party of the left, a couple of Republican Party regulars leading a rump GOP campaign, a few more GOP regulars running another rump GOP campaign -- while President Obama defends what is left of the Democrats.

GOP Primary Voters Like Palin Best, With Romney, Huckabee Close Behind - Rasmussen Reports™

GOP Primary Voters Like Palin Best, With Romney, Huckabee Close Behind - Rasmussen Reports™

They’re the leading contenders for now for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, and, perhaps not surprisingly, they’re the best liked of 14 top party players among likely GOP primary voters.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of those voters finds that 82% have a favorable opinion of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008, while just 17% view her unfavorably. That includes 50% with a Very Favorable opinion and eight percent (8%) with a Very Unfavorable one.

Jon Stewart's Brother

Jon Stewart’s brother says mom ‘pretty happy with both’ | Analysis & Opinion |: "A bit grayer and world wearier, maybe, but there’s no mistaking the family resemblance between NYSE Chief Operating Office Larry Leibowitz and his kid brother Jon Stewart. Unlike the Daily Show host, Leibowitz mostly keeps a low profile, although he did find himself in the spotlight even before his appearance at the Reuters Global Exchanges and Trading Summit on Monday. The Wall Street Journal interviewed him in a story about the NYSE’s effort to turn some high frequency traders — who have been chipping away at the exchange’s business — into exchange floor traders."

Nancy Pelosi for Minority Leader

Nancy Pelosi mulls minority leader run - Jonathan Allen and John Bresnahan - POLITICO.com: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling fellow Democrats as she weighs whether to stay in leadership and run for minority leader after losing control of the House Tuesday night, according to two senior Democratic aides and one lawmaker."

Happy Diwali

Mitch McConnell is not a nice man?

McConnell Watch - Swampland - TIME.com: "Mitch McConnell has never been a very interesting leader or legislator. Over the past few days, he's proved himself to be a vile and graceless public figure as well."

Happy Birthday to The Fed

That's all I got

A Leader that believes in stuff? Unpossible

Democratic leader in Iowa Senate vows he'll block vote on gay marriage | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register: "'The easy political thing for me to do years ago would have been to say, 'Oh, let's let this thing go. It's just too political and too messy,' ' Gronstal said. 'What's ugly is giving up what you believe in, that everybody has the same rights. Giving up on that? That's ugly.'"

On Obama's Appetite

Rising Hegemon: No bullshit too thick: "Obama's trip is not going to cost $200 million a day. Look at that skinny guy, there's no way he's eating what would be about ten Toblerones from the hotel minibar."

On using Personal tech for work

Paying to sell your own soul - The Squid Zone: "So here's a question for all readers:� How much is your time worth?� Your free time...� The time you spend with your family, your friends, your hobbies, whatever... how much is that worth to you?� Because when you give work access to your personal phone you are trading that time for... well, for nothing really.� You're trading it so you don't have to carry around another device during the work day."

On Writing and General Creativity

With the Election safely over and my life rolling along very happily here in Atlanta I am going to be doing some new things on this blog from time to time. One of them is trying out some ideas that are bubbling around my head for stories, pictures and maybe even some music if I can get stay focused on it long enough to remember how all of the notes line up on the page.

So if you see a post that looks particularly disjointed and weird just look for the "fiction" tag.

A Life? - Chapter 1

He sat on the side of the bed looking back at the rumpled sheets and sighed.

How did he once again end up in a city that wasn't his, in a bed that wasn't his?

What had led him to a life where joy came only as a result of sweaty grunting with a stranger?

On Third Parties in the USA

To all of those calling for the formation of a third party "of the left" all I have to say is grow the fuck up. The game is rigged for 2 parties and while the Democratic Party is highly imperfect, anyone that really thinks there is no difference between voting GOP and voting Dem needs to share whatever they are taking with me because those must be fun drugs.

My Kindle Is coming home to me

I got a call Wednesday afternoon from a very nice lady at US Airways telling me that they found my kindle. I should have it by the weekend! Of course now that means that Maria has to put her thinking cap back on for an Xmas present but she doesn't have to listen to me whine anymore about losing it.

Freeze Warning?

National Weather Service Watch Warning Advisory Summary

A COLD FRONT...CURRENTLY MOVING INTO NORTHWEST GEORGIA...WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE REGION TODAY. CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO
NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA BEHIND THE FRONT BRINGING SOME OF THE
COLDEST AIR OF THE SEASON. BY FRIDAY NIGHT THE CORE OF THE COLD
AIR WILL BE OVER GEORGIA RESULTING IN TEMPERATURES DROPPING INTO
THE UPPER 20S AND LOWER 30S ACROSS NORTH AND PARTS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA.

I guess that I should be happy to be in a place where freezing temperatures are rare enough that it is worth putting out a weather warning rather than saying "it is fall ... of course it is going to be frosty"

STAR TREK-Scotty Hacks A MacPlus

ICANN | New gTLD Program - Applicant Guidebook

ICANN | New gTLD Program - Applicant Guidebook: "This page contains all the current and archived versions of the Applicant Guidebook and key documentation related to the proposed application process. There has been to-date three versions of the Draft Applicant Guidebook along with associated Explanatory Memoranda (please see Resources & Related Topics). The application process will be web-based through a system called TAS - TLD Application System. The details on how to apply for a gTLD through TAS will be available in the upcoming months."

Nice Boat

Meet the Beluga, the most over-the-top yacht ever | DVICE: "Designed to look like a whale that helicopters can land on, it's got two levels for living connected with glass staircases, a nine-meter-tall crystal chandelier, and a owner's suite on the roof with a complete glass dome for a total view of the sky and ocean. Oh, it also has a Turkish bath, a gym, a movie theater, a swimming pool, a whirlpool, a cocktail bar, a two-leveled lounge, and a green house with real palm trees and a vegetable garden."

Tweet of the day

From Meghan McCain omg. THE MCRIB IS BACK!!!

Saving Dems from their lack of spine

No More Mister Nice Blog: "But I don't even want them to bother with temporary measures -- they should just renew everything forever. Why make them temporary again? They're currently temporary. But if Democrats wouldn't repeal the tax cuts for the rich with a 77-seat majority in the House and a 19-seat majority in the Senate, and with the polls in their favor, and with a desperate need to do something popular in the weeks before a perilous set of midterm elections, then under what bloody circumstances would they ever repeal them?

So just make them permanent, Democrats. At least that way you spare yourself another moment, sometime in the future, when Republicans will demagogue you on this, and you'll give in yet again."

Tea Party Purge

The Commander Guy's Post: OPERATION PURITY - The Tea Party Purge Continues….: "To anyone who thinks these unwashed teabaggers are going to sit back, stay in their place and do exactly what John Boehner wants them to do.... I have news for you. These wingers are serious about remaking America into a right wing utopia based upon the eternal principles of conservatism (whatever that means) and they mean business. If the 2010 version of Operation Purity gave us Sharron Angle, who ran an openly racist campaign, and Christine O’Donnell, who believes that evil scientists have created Mice with fully functioning Human Brains, what will 2012 hold?"

Self-funders strike out big time

Self-funders strike out big time - Jeanne Cummings - POLITICO.com: "To get a sense of how badly Meg Whitman miscalculated in investing more than $143 million of her own money in her 13-point loss in the California governor’s race against Democrat Jerry Brown, it’s useful to parse her spending:

Her cost per vote: $47. His cost per vote: $6.34."

What tonight really meant...

Balloon Juice � Blog Archive � Real America has spoken: "More than anything, tonight was a referendum on the spread of Sharia law."

Doozers!

David Vitter

Can someone explain to me how David Vitter gets caught with hookers and gets this result?. Is this just another example of IOKIYAR?

Carl Paladono as Al Capone?

Bat-Wielding Paladino Concedes: 'You Have Not Heard The Last Of Carl Paladino' (VIDEO) | TPMDC: "In his concession speech tonight, failed New York Governor candidate Carl Paladino resorted to his old 'take a baseball bat to Albany' metaphor, by whipping out a baseball bat and saying he has a message for Democrat Andrew Cuomo: 'As our Governor, you can grab this handle and bring the people with you to Albany. Or you can leave it untouched, and run the risk of having it wielded against you. Because make no mistake, you have not heard the last of Carl Paladino.'"

Palin A Loser?

Palin A Loser | Talking Points Memo: "Don't get me wrong. I don't think Sarah Palin will be going anywhere soon. The problem for the GOP is that the people who love her -- and there are a lot of them in the GOP -- really love her. And this won't matter a bit to them. But this result is going to get a lot of talk in GOP circles. Because there's a plausible argument that she lost them the Senate."

Note to Evan Bayh - STFU

Where Do Democrats Go Next? - NYTimes.com: "It is clear that Democrats over-interpreted our mandate. Talk of a “political realignment” and a “new progressive era” proved wishful thinking. Exit polls in 2008 showed that 22 percent of voters identified themselves as liberals, 32 percent as conservatives and 44 percent as moderates. An electorate that is 76 percent moderate to conservative was not crying out for a move to the left."

Polls consistently show that when Democratic policies are taken in isolation and not identified as such then the American people are in favor of them. This bullshit about America being a Center-right country is just that, Bullshit.

You can just as easily say that "an electorate that is 66% moderate to Liberal is not crying out for a move the the right".

Evan, take your concern trolling and stay home. Thanks.

Lesson to Democratic Party

When given the choice between Republican-lite and Republican, the American people will pick Republican. Even looking at Russ Feingold this holds true. He was successfully painted by his opponent as an insider, not as a Liberal. I hope that Team Blue takes the correct message away from this debacle in the House but I have a terrible feeling that they won't.

Congratulations to the GOP

They kicked ass and took names in the House. Now let's see if they know how to govern. For all our sakes I hope so.

RIP Acorn

Home | TPMMuckraker: "Two years after becoming perhaps the most vocally maligned organization in the country, ACORN announced today it is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy."

Actual Voting Irregularities

Kansas Voters Report Callers Telling Them They Need Proof Of Home Ownership To Vote | TPMMuckraker: "The Kansas attorney general has opened an investigation into reports that voters across Kansas have received calls giving them a slew of false information about the election: That the election has been moved to Wednesday, that they need to bring their voter registration cards to the polls and that they need proof of homeownership to vote.

'That's a felony,' AG spokesperson Gavin Young tells TPMmuckraker. Young said the complaints were not concentrated in a specific area, but came from all over the state. Contrary to original reports of robocalls, Young said many of the voters said they received live calls from real people."

Nathan Deal had too much money to spend

Saw a Nathan Deal ad at 6:55 pm. Polls close here in Georgia at 7:00 pm. If Nathan wants to get rid of his money stupidly he can just send it to me.

Wrap That Rascal

Why Is There a USB Drive Sticking Out of This Wall?: "Across New York, there are USB drives embedded in walls, buildings and curbs. The idea is to create an anonymous, offline file-sharing network in public space. The drives are completely public and anyone can plug in to drop and download file"

My Election Prediction

Senate - 50 Dems + 2 Independents(Lieberman will continue to caucus with Dems) House - 210 Dems

Where's my t-shirt?

Vince McMahon Smacks DOJ For Warning Over Free WWE Gear | TPMMuckraker: "The Justice Department warned World Wrestling Entertainment that it will not look kindly on the pro wrestling company distributing free merchandise near polling places in Connecticut -- where its co-founder is on the ballot for U.S. Senator."

TBogg FTW - just vote

Before The Deluge | TBogg: "Every year in Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land all of the sprites and elves and woodland creatures gather together to pick the Rainbow Sunshine Queen. Everyone is there: the Lollipop Guild, the Star-Twinkle Toddlers, the Sparkly Unicorns, the Cookie Baking Apple-cheeked Grandmothers, the Fluffy Bunny Bund, the Rumbly-Tumbly Pupperoos, the Snowflake Princesses, the Baby Duckies All-In-A-Row, the Laughing Babies, and the Dykes on Bikes. They have a big picnic with cupcakes and gumdrops and pudding pops, stopping only to cast their votes by throwing Magic Wishing Rocks into the Well of Laughter, Comity, and Good Intentions. Afterward they spend the rest of the night dancing and singing and waving glow sticks until dawn when they tumble sleepy-eyed into beds made of the purest and whitest goose down where they dream of angels and clouds of spun sugar.

You don’t live there.

Grow the fuck up"

Voter Fraud or Paranoia?

Stopping Voter Fraud | Foxnews.com: "One viewer from North Carolina wrote that 'the buttons for each party are so close together, that if a person tries to press the Republican button with the pad of their finger, it is possible that their fingernail might accidently press the Democratic button.'

'Accident? I don't think so,' wrote another. 'Be careful out there.'"

Your Fucking Polling Location

Your Fucking Polling Location
Go Vote. No excuses

David Broder vs Iran

David Broder is a Terribly Stupid Man : Lawyers, Guns & Money: "Prepping for war against Iran in order to improve the economy is not unlike staying in on a 2-7 offsuit in order to maximize your chances for a straight flush."

I REMEMBER, SO I'M VOTING, AND NOT REPUBLICAN

On Halloween

Balloon Juice � Blog Archive � Straight Pride Night Open Thread: "Dan Savage likes to say that the reason breeders don’t have a pride parade is because they already have Halloween"

Run Sarah Run!

Next for GOP leaders: Stopping Sarah Palin - Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei - POLITICO.com: "'There is a determined, focused establishment effort … to find a candidate we can coalesce around who can beat Sarah Palin,' said one prominent and longtime Washington Republican. 'We believe she could get the nomination, but Barack Obama would crush her.'"

One Way To Mars?

Journal of Cosmology

A human mission to Mars is technologically feasible, but hugely expensive requiring enormous financial and political commitments. A creative solution to this dilemma would be a one-way human mission to Mars in place of the manned return mission that remains stuck on the drawing board. Our proposal would cut the costs several fold but ensure at the same time a continuous commitment to the exploration of Mars in particular and space in general. It would also obviate the need for years of rehabilitation for returning astronauts, which would not be an issue if the astronauts were to remain in the low-gravity environment of Mars. We envision that Mars exploration would begin and proceed for a long time on the basis of outbound journeys only. A mission to Mars could use some of the hardware that has been developed for the Moon program. One approach could be to send four astronauts initially, two on each of two space craft, each with a lander and sufficient supplies, to stake a single outpost on Mars. A one-way human mission to Mars would not be a fixed duration project as in the Apollo program, but the first step in establishing a permanent human presence on the planet. The astronauts would be re-supplied on a periodic basis from Earth with basic necessities, but otherwise would be expected to become increasingly proficient at harvesting and utilizing resources available on Mars. Eventually the outpost would reach self-sufficiency, and then it could serve as a hub for a greatly expanded colonization program. There are many reasons why a human colony on Mars is a desirable goal, scientifically and politically. The strategy of one-way missions brings this goal within technological and financial feasibility. Nevertheless, to attain it would require not only major international cooperation, but a return to the exploration spirit and risk-taking ethos of the great period of Earth exploration, from Columbus to Amundsen, but which has nowadays being replaced with a culture of safety and political correctness.

BBC News - Rare earths supply deal between Japan and Vietnam

BBC News - Rare earths supply deal between Japan and Vietnam: "Vietnam has agreed to help supply Japan with rare earths, as Tokyo tries to reduce its dependence on China.

The two countries have also agreed on greater nuclear cooperation, with Hanoi virtually awarding Japan contracts to build two reactors in Vietnam."

Megachurch Pastor Comes Out

Megachurch Pastor Comes Out� | News | The Advocate: "The pastor of a megachurch in Conyers, Ga., told his congregation last week that he’s gay, saying that while he knows his announcement might ruin his career, the recent rash of suicides pushed him to speak out."

Limiting Patents on Genes

US Government Argues in Court that Isolated Genes are Unpatentable - Patent Law Blog (Patently-O): "In March, 2010,�District Court�Judge Robert Sweet�held Myriad's gene�patent claims invalid for failing to satisfy the subject matter eligibility requirements of 35 U.S.C. 101.� The ruling was directed toward claims that cover�particular isolated DNA molecules (genes)�and processes of detecting and screening for those genes, but was written broadly enough to essentially invalidate all patents covering genes that were isolated from an organism.�

Last month, I heard a rumor that Obama administration science and legal advisors outside of the USPTO supported�Judge Sweet's ruling.� At the time I disregarded that suggestion�as unlikely. I was wrong. [Andy Pollack at the NYTimes has the scoop]

The�US Department of Justice (DOJ)�has now�filed an amicus brief�supporting the lower court decision — arguing that isolated genes are unpatentable because they�improperly claim a product of naturer�[Link to Brief]:"

If we amplify everything we hear nothing - Jon Stewart

I am not sure how I am going to cut the gain on my amplifier but Jon speaks some truth in these few minutes.